A BILL to amend and reenact §46A-6-102 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated §46A-6-111, all relating to
defining "consumer reporting agency"; requiring consumer
reporting agencies to notify consumers of negative credit
reports in advance of their release; and providing a cause of
action and civil penalties for violations.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:That §46A-6-102 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated §46A-6-111, all to read as
follows:ARTICLE 6. GENERAL CONSUMER PROTECTION.§46A-6-102. Definitions.
When used in this article the following words, terms and phrases, and any variations thereof required by the context, shall
have the meaning ascribed to them in this article, except where the
context indicates a different meaning:
(a) "Advertisement" means the publication, dissemination or
circulation of any matter, oral or written, including labeling,
which tends to induce, directly or indirectly, any person to enter
into any obligation, sign any contract, or acquire any title or
interest in any goods or services and includes every word device to
disguise any form of business solicitation by using such terms as
"renewal," "invoice," "bill," "statement" or "reminder," to create
an impression of existing obligation when there is none, or other
language to mislead any person in relation to any sought-after
commercial transaction.
(b) "Consumer" means a natural person to whom a sale or lease
is made in a consumer transaction, and a "consumer transaction"
means a sale or lease to a natural person or persons for a
personal, family, household or agricultural purpose.(c) "Consumer reporting agency" has the meaning assigned by
Section 603(f), Fair Credit Reporting Ace (15 U.S.C. Section 1681a
(f).(c)(d) "Merchantable" means, in addition to the qualities
prescribed in section three hundred fourteen, article two, chapter
forty-six of this code, that the goods conform in all material
respects to applicable state and federal statutes and regulations establishing standards of quality and safety of goods and, in the
case of goods with mechanical, electrical or thermal components,
that the goods are in good working order and will operate properly
in normal usage for a reasonable period of time.(d)(e) "Sale" includes any sale, offer for sale or attempt to
sell any goods for cash or credit or any services or offer for
services for cash or credit.(e)(f) "Trade" or "commerce" means the advertising, offering
for sale, sale or distribution of any goods or services and shall
include any trade or commerce, directly or indirectly, affecting
the people of this state.(f)(g) "Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive
acts or practices" means and includes, but is not limited to, any
one or more of the following:
(1) Passing off goods or services as those of another;
(2) Causing likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding as
to the source, sponsorship, approval or certification of goods or
services;
(3) Causing likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding as
to affiliation, connection or association with, or certification by
another;
(4) Using deceptive representations or designations of
geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
(5) Representing that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits or
quantities that they do not have, or that a person has a
sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation or connection that he or
she does not have;
(6) Representing that goods are original or new if they are
deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed, used or
secondhand;
(7) Representing that goods or services are of a particular
standard, quality or grade, or that goods are of a particular style
or model, if they are of another;
(8) Disparaging the goods, services or business of another by
false or misleading representation of fact;
(9) Advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them
as advertised;
(10) Advertising goods or services with intent not to supply
reasonably expectable public demand, unless the advertisement
discloses a limitation of quantity;
(11) Making false or misleading statements of fact concerning
the reasons for, existence of or amounts of price reductions;
(12) Engaging in any other conduct which similarly creates a
likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding;
(13) The act, use or employment by any person of any
deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise or
misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely upon such
concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale
or advertisement of any goods or services, whether or not any
person has in fact been misled, deceived or damaged thereby;
(14) Advertising, printing, displaying, publishing,
distributing or broadcasting, or causing to be advertised, printed,
displayed, published, distributed or broadcast in any manner, any
statement or representation with regard to the sale of goods or the
extension of consumer credit including the rates, terms or
conditions for the sale of such goods or the extension of such
credit, which is false, misleading, or deceptive, or which omits to
state material information which is necessary to make the
statements therein not false, misleading or deceptive;
(15) Representing that any person has won a prize, one of a
group of prizes or any other thing of value, if receipt of the
prize or thing of value is contingent upon any payment of a service
charge, mailing charge, handling charge or any other similar charge
by the person or upon mandatory attendance by the person at a
promotion or sales presentation at the seller's place of business
or any other location: Provided, That a person may be offered one
item or the choice of several items conditioned on the person
listening to a sales promotion or entering a consumer transaction
if the true retail value and an accurate description of the item or
items are clearly and conspicuously disclosed along with the person's obligations upon accepting the item or items; such
description and disclosure shall be typewritten or printed in at
least eight point regular type, in upper or lower case, where
appropriate; or
(16) Violating any provision or requirement of article six-b
of this chapter.(g)(h) "Warranty" means express and implied warranties
described and defined in sections three hundred thirteen, three
hundred fourteen and three hundred fifteen, article two, chapter
forty-six of this code and expressions or actions of a merchant
which assure the consumer that the goods have described qualities
or will perform in a described manner.

(a) A consumer reporting agency shall notify a consumer if a
credit report has been requested concerning his or her credit and
if the report demonstrates a negative credit rating. The report
shall be in writing and shall be sent by certified mail posted at
least twenty days prior to publishing the report to the requesting
party. A complete copy of that report to the consumer constitutes
a writing.
(b) If a consumer reporting agency violates the provisions of
subsection (a) of this section and the credit sought by the
consumer is denied for reason of obsolete or other erroneous material contained in the report, the consumer has a cause of
action for the amount of any monetary loss incurred by him or her.
A consumer reporting agency violating the provisions of this
section is also subject to a civil penalty in an amount determined
by the court of not less than one hundred nor more than one
thousand dollars.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to compel consumer
reporting agencies to notify consumers of negative credit reports
to allow consumers an opportunity to correct any discrepancies
before the report is relied upon by a potential creditor. The bill
provides for a cause of action for violations and subjects consumer
reporting agencies violating the provisions of the bill to a civil
penalty.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.

§46A-6-11 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.